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-- Recomended Books and Videos List
Recomended Books and Videos List
Dance Music Manual Vol. 2
A great beginners guide for anyone jumping into electronic music production. Some of the genre analyses are already dated, but the fundamentals in the book are sound. The DVD content from the second edition is better, where they talk about producing each track, but if you can get ahold of the first edition its almost as good.
Modern Beats "Hit Theory"
An ebook clearly geared towards people trying to make Hip-hop, but it does have a good section on groove and can open your eyes if you take popular music for granted.
The Secrets of House Music Production
The production value of this book is very high and covers basic to intermediate house production concepts. You could think of this book as a mash up of several Computer Music Tips and Tutorials Sections because they way it is laid out is almost identical.
Mixing With Your Mind
A book geared towards recording artist and mixing artists. It covers many undiscussed or seemingly secret topics, including the highly controversial "Hit Formula" section. Has a very good section on how to easily set any compressor.
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Music Theory
A great introductory book.
Harmony and Voice Leading 3rd Edition
A scholastic grade music theory textbook endorsed by Tranceaddict's music theory expert Mad for Brad.
Mixing Audio
The bible of mixing audio. The mix examples on the DVD are great if you want to hear what a professional mix artist can do to a track, and how every element is treated with different effects.
Levels in Digital Audio
A great little pdf that clears up a few very common misconceptions about levels in digital audio. It's free too!
The Mixing Engineers Handbook,2nd Ed
Part guide to mixing, part interview with mixing pros, the book goes through mixing concepts and how they are tackled differently.
Understanding Audio:getting the most out of your project or professional recording studio
Covers the more technical aspects of a professional studio.
Ableton Live 8 Power!
Logic Pro 9 Power!
I have the Live 7 Power! book and it helps a lot when you're trying to learn a DAW. The Ableton manual is very thorough, but sometimes it helps to get a different explanation. There are a lot of good tips and tricks to boot.
How to DJ Right!
The book is already dated now with some older techniques, but a lot of the fundamentals of DJing are the same. The book is littered with tips from professional DJs.
Mastering Audio, 2nd Edition: The art and science
Covers more technical issues with regards to mixing and mastering.
The Art of Mixing
Takes on the concepts of mixing via the 3D box concept(frequency x depth x panning) and uses visual diagrams to express how a different elements can be mixed. I found this at my local library, you might consider checking yours as well.
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| Originally posted by cryophonik S.M.A.R.T. Guide to Mixing & Mastering Audio Recordings - Bill Gibson; good all-around primer on mixing/mastering. Guerilla Home Recording - How to Get Great Sound From Any Studio... - Karl Coryat; excellent book for recording with cheap gear in home studios. Power Tools for Synthesizer Programming - Ultimate Reference for Sound Design - Jim Aikin; not a sound design "recipe book" per se, but a good reference guide for understanding synthesis. Becoming a Synthesizer Wizard: From Presets to Power User - Simon Cann; excellent resource for learning synthesis and putting it into practice. Cakewalk Synthesizers: From Presets to Power User - Simon Cann; similar to above, but covers the Cakewalk synths (e.g., Z3TA, Rapture, Dimension Pro, Pentagon, Triangle, etc.). The Trance Experience - Torsten Fassbender; dated, but good and with hands-on tutorials. Production Mixing Mastering with Waves - Anthony Egizii; good all-around hands-on tutorials for a variety of styles, including electronica/dance. The other Power! books (e.g., Sonar, Cubase, Reason, etc.) |
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| Originally posted by forkol Getting Started in Computer Music Burning Down the House: Ripping, Recording, Remixing, and More! (good section on remixing). Audio Mashup Construction Kit: ExtremeTech This book is really for mashup production, but has techinques that are very useful for remixing and gives a good music theory introduction. Hope this helps! |
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| Originally posted by kadomony |
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| Originally posted by cryophonik http://www.groove3.com/str/ Huge number of excellent tutorials for every major DAW, other software, production techniques, etc. These guys explain things clearly and concisely. Currently a sale going at $99 for a full year (reg. $249). Just to add, if anyone is ever in the market for a new DAW and having a tough time deciding, I've been referring them to Groove3. You can pay $29 for a full-month, all-access pass and, over the course of 6-8 hours, see each major DAW in action and in-depth by someone who is experienced and knowledgeable. I mean, demos are great, but trying to compare 2 or more DAWs in any intelligent way takes a lot of time to configure, get up to speed, etc. With Groove3, you see the DAW's workflow and capabilities in a matter of hours. |
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| Originally posted by MeltdownZA There is a great set of introductory video tutorials for subscribers on lynda.com. Author Dave Schroeder explains the basics of digital audio production techniques and covers the essential hardware and software. He also discusses sound theory, frequency response, the range of human hearing, and dynamic range. I'm going through this at the moment and learning tons. http://www.lynda.com/Pro-Tools-tuto...ples/338-2.html |
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| Originally posted by DNA_pl this guy tutorials are well described http://www.youtube.com/user/LoudonYukon |
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| Originally posted by Vernon Wanderer These are not tutorials, but i learned a lot from the pros in "In the studio with" videos, free ofc: http://www.youtube.com/user/FutureMusicMagazine |
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| Originally posted by SoundMagus Music Production Videos |
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| Originally posted by Sukhavati This isn't a book, it's a DVD but the info's good so I'll share it: Secrets of the Pros The ones on mixing and mastering are especially useful, for example how to properly set up the studio to avoid hot spots and how to construct some cheap sound absorption/traps. The advantage of the DVD is actually seeing how to put this stuff together. I also like Microsound by Curtis Roads. It's not the easiest read, but it's been a book that I've gotten several useful techniques from that I otherwise wouldn't have thought about. |
Books don't really help.
Been there done that!
Just my 2c!
if you can read, they are quite useful.
Most books tend to be geared towards noobs. Have you read Bob Katz book ? That one is a must read for anyone in audio production.
Nice compilation, Beatflux! Should be a sticky. Here are a few others off the top of my head:
S.M.A.R.T. Guide to Mixing & Mastering Audio Recordings - Bill Gibson; good all-around primer on mixing/mastering.
Guerilla Home Recording - How to Get Great Sound From Any Studio... - Karl Coryat; excellent book for recording with cheap gear in home studios.
Power Tools for Synthesizer Programming - Ultimate Reference for Sound Design - Jim Aikin; not a sound design "recipe book" per se, but a good reference guide for understanding synthesis.
Becoming a Synthesizer Wizard: From Presets to Power User - Simon Cann; excellent resource for learning synthesis and putting it into practice.
Cakewalk Synthesizers: From Presets to Power User - Simon Cann; similar to above, but covers the Cakewalk synths (e.g., Z3TA, Rapture, Dimension Pro, Pentagon, Triangle, etc.).
The Trance Experience - Torsten Fassbender; dated, but good and with hands-on tutorials.
Production Mixing Mastering with Waves - Anthony Egizii; good all-around hands-on tutorials for a variety of styles, including electronica/dance.
The other Power! books (e.g., Sonar, Cubase, Reason, etc.)
mixing with your mind really helped me w/ EQ & compression, my track's sounded 10x better within a week of reading it. Smart author too, you can only buy the book from him directly!
online video tutorials are alot faster to learn from imo than books but thats me, ive always been a terrible reader. but that mixing with your mind looked interesting.
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| Originally posted by 19503 online video tutorials are alot faster to learn from imo than books but thats me, ive always been a terrible reader. |
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| Originally posted by 19503 online video tutorials are alot faster to learn from imo than books... |
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| Originally posted by cryophonik Also, it doesn't hurt to step away from your computer on occasion. |
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| Originally posted by 19503 blasphemy |
exactly. be more productive. knowledge are for leaders only.
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| Originally posted by Zombie0729 mixing with your mind really helped me w/ EQ & compression, my track's sounded 10x better within a week of reading it. Smart author too, you can only buy the book from him directly! |
Good post, Beatflux.
Here's a few I like, older but very much relevant:
Getting Started in Computer Music
Burning Down the House: Ripping, Recording, Remixing, and More! (good section on remixing).
Audio Mashup Construction Kit: ExtremeTech This book is really for mashup production, but has techinques that are very useful for remixing and gives a good music theory introduction.
Hope this helps!
Another good book on synthesis: "Programming Synthesizers" by Peter Gorges
This isn't a book, it's a DVD but the info's good so I'll share it:
Secrets of the Pros
The ones on mixing and mastering are especially useful, for example how to properly set up the studio to avoid hot spots and how to construct some cheap sound absorption/traps.
The advantage of the DVD is actually seeing how to put this stuff together.
I also like Microsound by Curtis Roads. It's not the easiest read, but it's been a book that I've gotten several useful techniques from that I otherwise wouldn't have thought about.
I'm reading Dance Music Manual vol.2 as indicated at the top of the OP and that book is insane, every line I'm learning something new and interesting 
Intro to Synthesis (3-part series, about 3 hours total running time)
Dance music manual third edition! Updated in 2014 and very nice. The example music is usually from modern hit-makers like Guetta.
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